Skulduggery Pleasant: The Laboratory of Doctor Persevere Bane
by Valquesse23
Summary: Skulduggery, Valkyrie and friends are on the trail of the lethal and mysterious Doctor Persevere Bane. What they don't know is that it's all a trap. Is this the end of our favourite duo? (Contains Valduggery and is set 6 months after The Amulet of Dreymus Foul).
1. The Laboratory of Doctor Persevere Bane

_**The Laboratory of Doctor Persevere Bane**_

_**Introduction:**_

_When Valkyrie opened her eyes she became very aware of the suffocating darkness that surrounded her. She felt the gag in her mouth and her eyes began to water as she tried not to choke. She tried to raise her arms but found they were chained to whatever it was she was lying on. A wooden board perhaps. Her legs were bound as well. _

_Valkyrie clicked her fingers but nothing happened. The room was bound. _

_She was powerless. Or maybe not. Throughout her lessons with Skulduggery, he had taught her that regular handcuffs were pretty easy to break out of. Valkyrie was a slender girl, and since it wasn't the cuffs that were bound she began to try to pull her wrists free. _

_The metal bit into her skin and soon Valkyrie could feel blood trickling down her arms. She grunted and rotated her wrist, breaking the skin across her knuckles. With one final yank she freed her left hand and propped herself up on her elbow. _

_Sweat poured down Valkyrie's face and she began to free her right hand. It took a lot longer than the other hand but soon she was rubbing both wrists and sitting up, trying to work out how to free her feet. _

_Skulduggery had shown her that shackles were only as strong as the chains and what they were linked to. _

_Valkyrie ran her hands down the side of the wooden board. It was not even 10cm thick and felt like chipboard. She resisted the urge to scoff at her captors' pathetic attempt to chain her down and ripped her feet up. She winced as it cut through her socks. Apparently her boots had been taken off. Valkyrie tried again and smiled when she felt the chains give a little. Just a few more pulls and she'd be free. _

_Suddenly a door opened and light flooded into the room. She threw up hand to shield her eyes as someone walked up to her. _

"_Oh you're awake." Said a voice Valkyrie didn't recognise, and then she saw a fist and nothing more. _


	2. Chapter 1

_**The Laboratory of Doctor Persevere Bane**_

_**Chapter 1:**_

_***24 hours earlier***_

Valkyrie watched as Skulduggery bent over the body and had to turn away. Dead bodies still made her feel sick and she didn't plan on throwing up in front of him. She walked out the tiny flat into the front garden, deciding that there could be some important clues where it didn't smell of death and stale air.

"Still not used to it yet?"

Valkyrie turned to see Sanctuary Agent Ivy Lux smiling at her. An old friend of Skulduggery's and fast becoming a good friend of Valkyrie's.

She grinned ruefully; "Skulduggery's lucky he can't smell. He wouldn't act so tough if he could. What're you doing here? Since when do you get involved in 'official' sanctuary business?"

Ivy smiled slightly and stuffed her hands into her jean pockets. Valkyrie caught a glimpse of a pistol in the folds of Ivy's jacket. She made a mental note to ask Skulduggery what sort of gun it was, and when she could get one.

"Skulduggery called me and asked if I could check it out. He thinks it matches the profile of someone I've been tracking for the last year."

Valkyrie frowned. She hated it when Skulduggery kept things from her.

Ivy laughed, as if reading her mind; "Calm down, Val. He asked me to brief you on it all, as he is, and I quote, "far too important to handle such menial tasks"."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes as Ivy kept talking.

"Doctor Persevere Bane is a scientist suspected of cloning and other mutational attempts. During the War he was known as the "Human Nye" only he was much worse. Whereas Nye experimented on captured soldiers, Bane began experimenting on his wife and two young children."

Valkyrie heard the sliding door open and close behind her but she ignored it, captivated by Ivy's story.

"He has a number of laboratories dotted across the country but a source has informed me he spends most of his time in Serpine's old castle."

"We really need to knock that place down."

Skulduggery's voice knocked Valkyrie out of her reverie and she spoke.

"What does he have to do with Old Mrs Perkins' death?"

Skulduggery answered; "Two weeks ago her daughter Gemma went missing. The mortal police were baffled. There was no evidence of foul play and all who knew the girl said she was level-headed and sensible. She had a great career, money and a nice home. Then three days ago Gemma turned up here, at her Mother's house. Mrs Perkins rang the police to say that her daughter had returned but would say no more. Neither woman was seen leaving the house until a neighbour called round to check this morning and found the old woman dead, with Gemma nowhere to be seen."

"This is classic Bane," Ivy said, "from what I can tell, he kidnapped Gemma, altered her DNA somehow and now she's part of his army. He probably ordered her to kill her own mother and then disappear again; making it look like someone was stalking the family. That reminds me, the mortal police will be here soon so we should probably get out of here."

Ivy turned to leave but Skulduggery stopped her.

"What's the Sanctuary's view on this Ivy?"

Ivy frowned slightly. "They want it cleared up as soon as possible. Bane is planning something Skulduggery. There is the possibility this murder is meant to be a message for us."

Ivy slipped out the gate and disappeared into the shadows, leaving Valkyrie and Skulduggery alone in the garden.

"Well." Valkyrie said cheerfully, "That was ominous."

"A message," Skulduggery sighed, "why couldn't he just write a note? That would be so much more helpful and less cryptic." He followed in Ivy's footsteps and headed towards the Bentley. Valkyrie followed.

"That would sort of defeat the point of a "mystery"." Valkyrie said as she climbed into the passenger seat.

"Shush now. I'm thinking important things."

Valkyrie rolled her eyes for the second time this morning but said nothing. She tapped her foot impatiently while she waited for him to say something.

Finally Skulduggery spoke.

"Bane has a sister by the name of Harley Temper. We should go and speak to her, see if she knows anything."

Valkyrie nodded. "Okay. That sounds smart. On a completely irrelevant note; can I have a gun? Like the one Ivy has?"

"Ivy has a Remington 1911 R1 Centennial Limited Edition pistol and you are in no way allowed to have a gun."

"Why?" Valkyrie almost whined, "Ivy's so cool with her gun and combat boots."

Skulduggery turned onto the highway, heading out of Dublin.

"You should be careful around Ivy. She's not always as lovely as she seems. And we've had this conversation before. One weapon at a time."

"The stick doesn't count." Valkyrie snapped, poking Skulduggery in the ribs.

Skulduggery laughed and clasped her hand in his.

"I meant _you. _I want you to fully grasp magic and combat before guns."

Valkyrie grumbled but left her hand in his, quietly pleased with the affection. They'd been together almost six months now but it still gave her chills when he touched her. After the awful Darquesse/Locket episode, Valkyrie had been looking forward to spending some quiet time with Skulduggery, she'd imagined romance and holidays but alas it was not to be. Three days after getting back to Ireland they were inundated with cases again. In fact they'd been so busy that she'd barely spent any time with Skulduggery outside of work.

Skulduggery squeezed her hand gently.

"I do have the stick in the boot if you wanted to practice."

Valkyrie wrenched her hand out of his and started poking him again.

**I LIED! Well not deliberately. Originally this was going in the Valduggery Drabbles but as I was writing this, lots of little subplots popped up in my mind and now it's going to be too long to be a mini-chapter drabble. SO IT'S THE NEW SHORT STORY! **

**YAYAYAY! **

**(If you haven't seen your character yet; don't panic! I'll get there!) **

**I hope you enjoy this! xD**


	3. Chapter 2

**The Laboratory of Doctor Persevere Bane**

_**Chapter 2:**_

Harley Temper lived in the dingiest looking flat Valkyrie had ever seen. The windows were so dirty she couldn't see her own reflection and it looked like the concrete was melting; the colour grey poured down the wall, spilling on to the sidewalk.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Valkyrie asked quietly. "This isn't exactly the dwelling of a powerful sorceress."

Skulduggery had activated his facade before getting out the car, and Valkyrie's favourite face smiled at her.

"Of course. You of all people should know appearances aren't everything." He tapped his face and raised a gloved finger to the doorbell. Valkyrie waited apprehensively, expecting magic to change the flat into a palace or to be whisked away to the real location.

Skulduggery pushed the button once and nothing happened. He paused and then pushed again.

The button fell off the wall and Valkyrie stared at it.

"Nothing wrong with knocking." He said cheerfully.

As Skulduggery stood at the door, Valkyrie walked over to a murky window and peered in. She could just about make out a figure in an armchair.

"There's someone in there, but they're not moving." Valkyrie called out to Skulduggery. "Perhaps we should-." She was just about to suggest checking the back door when Skulduggery shoved the door open with a crack. Skulduggery brushed himself off and stepped over the remains of the door.

"Very elegant." muttered Valkyrie. She followed Skulduggery into the apartment and was surprised at what she saw. Her partner had been right about appearances. The walls were a deep blue and were covered with pictures. Valkyrie could feel the carpet beneath her boots and had to ignore the urge to take of her shoes and walk around barefoot. The place smelt and looked clean.

The moan from the chair in the sitting room startled Valkyrie and she tensed. Skulduggery walked in slowly, gun drawn.

"She's sick." Valkyrie said as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the room. She walked over to girl and realised she was shackled to the chair. Her arms were bruised and Valkyrie noticed IV lines and drip bags pumping in odd coloured fluids. The girl was so pale, her purple hair hung limply over her face. Valkyrie heard Skulduggery on the phone, asking for back up and Nye. She went to turn around to speak to Skulduggery when something caught her eye on the table.

A key.

Valkyrie freed the girl from her shackles but she didn't move, only breathing short shallow breaths, eyes closed. Valkyrie felt for the girl's pulse, her skin cold and clammy.

"Skulduggery her heart rate's through the roof. Is this Temper?"

Skulduggery snapped his phone shut and knelt down.

"Her brother's been here." Skulduggery said, looking at the bags of fluid still flowing into her body. "We need to wait for Nye. If I stop any of these," he gestured to the IV, "I might kill her, or worse."

Valkyrie waited impatiently while Skulduggery spoke to Nye. She'd sat in the back of the Sanctuary ambulance with Harley and now had grown quite attached to the pale purple-haired woman. She couldn't sit still, so settled for pacing around the mottle green waiting room. God knows how many times she'd been Nye's patient. It was no Kenspeckle, but even Skulduggery had to admit it did a fair job of patching her up.

Skulduggery walked through the double doors over to Valkyrie. She looked up at him; shadows dancing in his eye sockets.

"Nye's removed the IVs and settled her heart rate. She's sleeping at the moment, but it expects her to make a full recovery in a few days."

"When can we talk to her?"

"Tomorrow afternoon." Valkyrie and Skulduggery turned to see Nye at the doorway. "I will wake her to answer your questions. But you only have half an hour detectives. I don't want you endangering the health of my patients."

Valkyrie grabbed the back of Skulduggery's jacket as Nye clacked out the room. Skulduggery always had a short fuse regarding Nye and it always seemed to Valkyrie that the creature was constantly taunting Skulduggery.

Skulduggery shrugged out of Valkyrie's reach. She rolled her eyes but moved on.

"So now what? We can't talk to Harley until tomorrow." Valkyrie's eyes widened. "We could go to the beach." She said wistfully.

"Or we could go talk to Ghastly and Erskine. We had dealings with Bane during the war."

Valkyrie sighed.

"I thought you loved Erskine's stories? Especially when I'm involved. I am just so brave. It must be so difficult for you, walking in my shadow."

Valkyrie frowned as he walked out of the building, out of her fists' reach. Was it really that bad that she wanted to spend some time with him outside of work?

**OH MY GOD I AM SO SO SO SO SORRY! I haven't been busy; THE INTERNET BURNT DOWN!**

**Well. The signal tower in my area did. We've had no internet and no landlines for the past TEN DAYS! **

**It's been really nice; in one sense. I've had a legitimate reason to take a break and come up with some new ideas. **

**But other than that it has totally sucked. I now have to go pay my phone bill... which is eight days late. YAY FOR LATE FEES! xD **

**Anyway. **

**I hope you like this chapter! **

**And I have some non-Skulduggery stories floating around in my head. ;) **


	4. Chapter 3

**The Laboratory of Doctor Persevere Bane**

_**Chapter 3:**_

Valkyrie was silent on the way to Ghastly's shop. She told herself that she was thinking, not sulking. She'd never realised how much she relied on Fletcher and Caelan fawning over her, desperate for her company.

Frowning at the thought, she forced herself to think of Bane rather than Skulduggery and their relationship. She hadn't quite figured out Bane's bigger picture. He was a scientist and certifiably mad. He used people as his experimental subjects and was a war criminal that had somehow escaped justice. Bane had no connections to the Faceless Ones; he was a man of science, not religious in any sense.

So why was he striking now? What had he to gain?

Valkyrie's thoughts were interrupted as Skulduggery cut the engine of the Bentley. With a sinking stomach she realised they were at Ghastly's and had not spoken a single word. She climbed out of the car and walked straight into the shop, ignoring Skulduggery's eyes burning into the back of her head.

"Hey Ghastly," Valkyrie slumped onto his couch and avoided Skulduggery's gaze.

Before Ghastly had a chance to respond Erskine waltzed into the room.

"Valkyrie my dear; always a pleasure!" He walked to embrace her and then spotted Skulduggery. "Oh. Hi Skulduggery." He dropped his arms and sat in an armchair.

Usually this show made Valkyrie laugh but she was in no mood today. She almost wished Erskine would hug her; it'd be more affection than Skulduggery ever showed her.

Her scowl increasing, she got off the couch when Skulduggery sat down slowly next to her.

"I'll make some tea." She all but growled.

Stalking off into the kitchen she saw Ghastly throw an incredulous look at Skulduggery. Not wanting to know what his reaction was, Valkyrie shut the door to the kitchen. Staring at the fridge door she was surprised by the threat of tears. Wiping her traitorous eyes, she grabbed the milk and turned to put it on the bench next to the tea bags.

Skulduggery hadn't known how to break the silence in the car but when Valkyrie had walked straight into Ghastly's without waiting he wished he'd said something. Anything would be better than her ignoring him.

"What have you done?" Ghastly asked, sounding slightly amused.

"I'm not sure... Maybe it was the stick?"

"I'd say it was you. Valkyrie needs a real man." Erskine threw in his two cents.

Cutting in before the two men started a brawl in his living room, Ghastly threw up his hands.

"You didn't come here for relationship advice. Whatever problems you and Valkyrie are having, I'm sure you'll be fine by tomorrow morning. Just try not to kill each other in the meantime. Or anyone else."

Skulduggery shifted his gaze from Erskine, who then visibly relaxed, and looked at Ghastly.

"Bane's back. This time he's tried to kill his own sister, succeeded in killing a mortal and abducted her daughter. Any ideas what he'd be up to?"

"During the war he was trying to create a super soldier; invincible and deadly. It was the death of his son that stopped the experiments. Maybe he's restarted?" Erskine offered, now taking the conversation seriously.

"Perhaps," Ghastly pondered. "But then why would he draw attention to himself? It doesn't fit."

Skulduggery sat quietly, gloved fingers laced together. "This goes deeper than old war stories. Whatever Bane's got planned we won't know about until it hits. It'll be trouble."

Erskine rolled his eyes and threw his head back while Ghastly chuckled. "Anyone would think you're happy about that."

Skulduggery shrugged. "I need a new adventure; a new mystery. Bane was always a worthy adversary." He paused. "Valkyrie's taking a long time."

Skulduggery walked over and opened the kitchen door. Both Erskine and Ghastly assumed defensive stances when Skulduggery drew his gun.

He walked through the doorway flanked by the two men. It was obvious the kitchen was empty. Skulduggery stared at the milk carton spilling out onto the tile floor. Gripping his gun he turned and walked out the room, out of the shop.

"Skulduggery," Ghastly called, "I'll convene an emergency meeting at the Sanctuary. We'll find her."

He barely managed a nod as he opened the Bentley door and sat down.

Bane had taken Valkyrie.

His Valkyrie.

Skulduggery recovered his thoughts. Rushing into Bane's castle to rescue Valkyrie would be disastrous. He needed back up and he needed to speak to Harley.

Gripping the steering wheel tightly, Skulduggery whispered to no one;

"I'll find you."

**Urghhhh. I think I've broken my own brain. I'm sorry this is so short. I realised I hadn't updated this story in ages but it was really hard to fill in time between the ending of the last chapter and Valkyrie... disappearing... :O Skulduggery is so mad. **

**Anyway, I'm off on a little holiday tomorrow and won't be back 'til Friday. I plan on taking my laptop and writing in my downtime (which will be all the time) but I'm not sure if there's internet. **

**Hence why all the stories are being update now. **

**Bye guys, see you soon! Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 4

**The Laboratory of Doctor Persevere Bane**

_**Chapter 4:**_

Valkyrie's eyes opened for the second time and she resisted the urge to groan. Whoever clocked her had a strong hand. It was going to leave a shocking bruise.

The last thing Valkyrie could remember was being in Ghastly's kitchen. She licked her lips, when was the last time she'd had a drink? She had no idea how long she'd been here. Pulling on her restraints, Valkyrie appreciated her captor had learnt from his previous mistake. There was no way she could pull free this time.

Valkyrie let out a startled gasp as the table beneath her began to rise. The room began to light up and she realised where she was: The Laboratory of Persevere Bane.

"Well, my dear. You are indeed what I expected, if not more. I do apologise if my assistant hurt you before. He can be heavy handed at the best of times."

Valkyrie scanned the room, trying desperately not to look frantic.

"I'm not in the room," the voice chuckled, "What you can hear is my voice through the PA system. I can see you though. Oh yes. Eleven cameras all pointed at you. What a marvel."

Valkyrie gritted her teeth and tried for polite.

"And just whose voice are you?"

"Oh I do apologise. I know everything about you, yet you know nothing about me. My name is Doctor Persevere Bane. I am a scientist of the highest degree."

"What do you practice in, Doctor?" Valkyrie asked as she pulled on the metal shackles biting into her wrists.

"I specialise in, now now Dear. Don't pull on those. You might hurt yourself. I specialise in altering DNA. Mainly cloning and improving original assets."

Valkyrie heard Bane chuckle quietly.

"You tried to create super soldiers during the war." Valkyrie called out, annoyed at speaking to a voice in a box.

"No." Bane's voice sounded harsh. "I succeeded. Jane and Elijah were my most pleasing test subjects."

Valkyrie's stomach blanched.

"Was that your wife and child? I thought they died." Valkyrie knew she had to tread carefully, the man was not stable.

"They were murdered, by your people. And now everyone will pay."

Valkyrie was just about to ask what he meant by 'your people' when the doors opened with a hiss. She squinted into the bright light, mouth dropping open when her eyes focused. Standing in the doorway was...

Her.

"Hey!" she called, "What are you doing here? Get Skulduggery!"

Bane chuckled again. "This is not your reflection, darling girl. This is your clone. Not my first successful attempt but definitely my favourite. And Gemma was so willing to help me."

Gemma, the missing girl, was an accomplice?

"So where is Gemma then? Have you told her that her Grandmother's dead?"

"You misunderstand. You're looking at Gemma. Or at least, what she is now. Cloning is not a clean process. I needed someone that matched you in all possible elements; height, weight, hair colour, eye colour, blood-type. Gemma was that match. I eventually coaxed her into coming here, under the guise of being my assistant. Of course, I lied. She was dead before she hit the gurney and that's when my work began."

"So what you're telling me," Valkyrie stared at girl in the doorway, "is that you killed Gemma, and then transferred a copy of my DNA to her lifeless body... Then what? How is she alive? How does she look like me?"

"So inquisitive. As the DNA transfers, the vessel slowly begins to transform. The physical process takes about three hours. Once that is complete, I simply inject the vessel with the original's spinal fluid and blood and the memories transfer across. She is alive, because you are alive. She is you. The only difference being, the vessel has no free will. It is completely under my control."

"Why have you done this? Why have you cloned me?" She asked, dread lacing her voice.

"You, or rather, your vessel, is about to make a miraculous escape from my laboratory. It will claim to have no memory of its ordeal, other than it was me that captured it. Eventually it will lead your beloved Skulduggery and the Sanctuary to Serpine's old lair where you and I will be waiting. There I will kill everyone you love, and then you. The Sanctuary will fall and I will have avenged the memory and lives of my family."

Valkyrie heard the faint click of the speaker and could do nothing but watch completely hopeless, as the doors slowly closed and her vessel slowly disappeared into the darkness.

**Helllloooo! So I realised I had been neglecting this story a little. Hence why the full reveal has happened in one chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this one. It's a little darker than usual. Oh. And I know NOTHING about cloning/anything remotely scientific. So that's as "detailed" as the explanation is going to get. xD**

**Also, I HAVE A SHOP ON THE INTERNET! :O It's called EbbandFlowMarket on Etsy. I've only just started, but go check it out (if you want, of course). And if you have any prompts or ideas for a story or something I can make to put in my shop, let me know! xD**


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